The one about the really big box...

I am sure many of you read Tim's announcement Friday about his new venture.  If you have followed his career, you know he is not one to rest on his laurels, so I wasn't surprised when he told me his venture would be taking him into uncharted territory.

Speed ahead to April when a giant box showed up on my doorstep (please excuse the garden hose in the background).  The poor FedEx boy looked at me in despair when I said I wanted the box hoisted up the two brick steps to the porch.  To be honest, it took the two of us, him pushing and me pulling to get the big box even close the front door.  

Since the box was so heavy, I had no choice but to get a box cutter and open it right there on the porch to reveal the what we had been anxiously waiting for.

Fabric.  Twenty Four rolls of beautiful fabric.

So one by one, I hauled each roll of fabric into the house and laid it on the kitchen table.  Wow, that's a lot of fabric!
You might wonder why I got the big box and not Tim.  That answer is easy.  Part of my job is to work with artists that will take the product and create fabulous things.  That means the next step was unwrapping each bolt, cutting pieces of fabric, packing it up and shipping it out.  All in all, nine packages went out to some very creative people.  The exciting part is that very soon, we will be able to finally share what we have been working on all month long.

 

Here are a few snippets of the pieces I worked on -

Three of the artists will be sharing their fabric adventures this week so be sure to visit their blogs on the days listed below.

Tuesday, May 14th - Tammy Tutterow
Wednesday, May 15th - Richele Christensen
Thursday, May 16th - Chelle Fowler
Friday, May 17th - me! (I'll be back to share the first of my projects)

UPDATE: many of you are wondering when the fabric will be available...it will be released this week at the Quilt Market show in Portland (to the trade only) and should start shipping to stores in July.

If you would like to see fabric samples up close you can visit the Coats website.
Time to start thinking, FABRIC!
cheers for a great week!
paula

Tokens of Love

I'm here!
yes, it's me!
Busy, busy, busy around here.  I had a big deadline this week and today I finally got to the point that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Love that feeling!
In fact, I was feeling so good about it that I had enough time to create a quick little project for Mother's Day.
For some of us Mother's Day can be quite challenging as my Mother passed away many years ago.  I don't need a card or a gift, but I can make something as a little remembrance.  Join me and I'll walk you though the steps.

I am going to use a 4 x 6" burlap panel for the base.  I wanted something I could nail into and the panels have a hard base that I can do just that.  The package comes with two panels (you will need just one for this project).

I cut a piece of paper from the French Industrial paper stash (6 x 6) and a matching piece of chipboard.  I always love something with French writing.  Adhere the two piece together with Collage Glue stick

 Set the paper aside while you paint 4 tack nails with Distress Paint.

I like tack nails because the have a flat head on them to add the paint to.  I didn't know what color I wanted so I painted 4 of each of the metallic colors so I would have a choice.
tip: I used a piece of cork to push the tacks into for painting.  They stand up and I don't get paint all over my fingers.

I decide to go with silver for this project.
Use a small hammer to nail a tack into each corner of the chipboard and right into the hard base.

Then take wire and wrap around the outside edge.  When you get to the nail make a tight loop around the nail and then keep going on around.  This will keep the wire in place.

Next, cut a piece of wool fabric (felt would do also) so that it fits inside the wire.  I stitched around mine with my sewing machine then trimmed the edge just a bit.  DO NOT glue down yet...this is just for sizing.

Next, iron Heat n Bond onto a piece of cream wool.  Heat n Bond is an iron-on adhesive.  Iron it on the back of the fabric with a dry iron.  Once cool, just peel off the paper backing to reveal the adhesive.

 I used the smallest of the Sizzix Sized Circles dies to cut out 3 circles from the creme wool.

 I peeled the paper back off and ironed the circles onto the blue wool strip.

I added a piece of tea dyed cheesecoth to the back, then hand stitched around each of the 3 circles to keep the three layers in place.

Next, I added some little tokens to each circle.  A wishbone at the top, a light pink heart in the center, and a vintage pin purchased at a Flea Market in France last month, at the bottom.  The top two tokens were stitched on with a smoky blue DMC embroidery floss 927 and the pin with creme thread.

 I cut a piece of Wonder Tape to fit the back of the wool piece.

 Then added it to the burlap panel.

Just a couple last touches to finish.

A Chitchat word for each token (inked with Frayed Burlap).  My those chitchat words come in handy.

At the top of the panel...use another tack nail and hammer it into the center.  Can you see it?

I dyed some Crinkle Ribbon with Tattered Rose and a hint of Vintage Photo Distress Stain.  Once fully dry, I cut a small piece and laid it next to the tack nail.

Then created a bow with at least 3 loops on each side and laid that on top of the short piece.   Now just tie a knot in the center to hold it on.

Make sure the short piece is wrapped around the tack nail to keep the bow in place (this picture was taken with the panel flipped over).

 Just like this.

I am so in love with this idea.
I can see it created over and over in different colors and sentiments and for many occasions.

wish - wish she was here

love - will love her always

blessed - that she was my mom

the perfect reminder

And there you go...super easy right?  Easy enough to make one just like it!

cheers for a good week,
paula

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Numeric Epiphany

So many things going on this month that I seem to be running from one thing to another and never quite finishing any of them.  Do you know that feeling?
I did find the time on Saturday to volunteer with the local food bank and spend some time with friends having a barbecue.  My friend Liz brought strawberries from a local stand that you can see in the Instagram photo below.  I posted this on Facebook and so many people could not believe what they were seeing that I decided to post it here as well.  Yes, that is an adult size hand the berries are sitting in (nice to live in strawberry country).  In the background you can even see the homemade salsa brought by another friend.  A great start to the barbecuing season if I do say so myself.

So on to today.
I was cleaning up the work table this morning when I had an epiphany about the numbers I used in last weeks project...."these are a great size for home decor".   In fact, in my world, they are the perfect size and the perfect font.

So, I marched directly to the family room an pulled a couple vintage items, a wood box (which I collect) and a wood bench (okay, I have a few of those too).  Both have a really great color but lack decoration of any sort.

I call that the perfect blank slate.

Back down the hall to the workroom.
Out comes the Distress Paint Black Soot and a non-stick craft sheet to squeeze a bit of paint onto.  Of course the stamps were right there so I just needed a Grid-bock to mount the stamp on and some baby wipes to clean them afterward.
I started with the wood box.  The wood was pretty bumpy so chances are I will need a small paintbrush to fill in the missing spots after stamping.

Ink up the stamp (any number will do) with the Distress Paint.

I stamped the box and sure enough, I felt like I needed to paint in some of the missing spaces.  It was really easy to do.  I used a small flat brush for the larger parts and a tiny rounded tip brush for the skinny bits.

Just for comparison: The 5 has just been stamped (you really could leave as is depending on how much distress you like) and the 3 has been stamped and painted in.  The lines were really easy to follow.

 

This is what they looked like once I finished painting.  I could have made them completely black but I wanted a bit of roughness showing.

 

Now just load in a few things....a ceramic pitcher from Pottery Barn bought many years ago, a restaurant number holder with a vintage sign and a nice hanging ivy.  Perfect centerpiece for the game table when not in use.

Now for the bench.  I decided I wanted the numbers on the end.
The wood used to make the bench was much smoother than the box so I just had to stamp this time.
I used the 2 x 7" Grid-block for stamping.  I used the lines on the block to center each number, then each time I stamped I used the top edge of the block as a guide (top arrow) as it touches the underside of the bench top.  As long as I placed each number on the same grid line (bottom arrow), then each number would be at the same level.  Perfect way to avoid crooked numbers.

Remember to stamp, then lift straight up for the best impression. 

Having the other number stamps on the wood while I was stamping helped me keep the correct distance between the numbers.

 

Here it is completed.

I dried the paint with my Heat it tool for a couple minutes, then back out the family room.  This bench sit by my husbands chair (of course it normally has the remote control on top).  Love the detail the number stamp brings to the plain little homemade bench.
I seriously couldn't be happier about both projects (I am quite sure I can find more things to stamp numbers on too).

Cheers for a great week!
(and prayers to get at least one thing checked off my list before I start another project)
 paula

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